Requests Configuration

* This guide is under construction *

Facebook Requests are an easy way to let your user's invite their friends to any page of your site. They also allow you, the site owner, to send updates to any, or all, of your users about new blog posts, events, sales, or whatever you want. The requests are sent through Facebook and appear as either friend notifications or application notifications, depending on how they were sent from your site. Below is a description of each, and how to set both up.

Requirements for Facebook Requests

You must have the following two items setup before sending requests.

Facebook Canvas Page - See JFBConnect Facebook Page Tab & Canvas Configuration Guide
SSL Certificate - The Facebook Canvas requires an SSL certificate to be installed on your site (https). See Obtaining SSL Certificates for Facebook.

Facebook requests require your Canvas Application to be properly configured. Once a request is accepted by a user on Facebook, they are redirected to the Canvas App URL for your site. JFBConnect will then redirect the user to the URL you've configured in the Request manager for the specific request that they are accepting.

Migration Settings

When your Canvas is working properly, you'll need ensure the proper migration settings are configured in the Facebook Developer Area. In the Settings -> Advanced section, make sure the following settings are set:

Requests 2.0 Efficient: Enabled
Upgrade to Requests 2.0: Enabled

Note: If these settings are not displayed, simply proceed to the next steps. Your application is already configured properly.

Request Creation

Each request needs to be created in the Joomla admin area before it can be sent to users. This is where you will set the request description the user will see on Facebook, the URL the user should go to when accepting the request, and other information specific to each request.

To begin, go to the JFBConnect -> Requests section in the Joomla Administrator area. You should see a view like above. Click the "New" button to begin creating a new Facebook Request that can be sent to users.

In the Create Request form, the following fields need to be filled in:

Title: Text in the titlebar of the popup window users will see on the frontend when sending the request to friends. This setting is not used for app requests sent from the admin area, but is still good to label the request for finding it later.

Message: The text a users will see on Facebook when viewing the request.

Destination URL: The URL a user is redirected to when accepting the request. This must be a full path URL (http://www.sourcecoast.com/link-to-page)

Thank You URL: The URL a user is redirected to after sending a request to their friends. This must be a full path URL (http://www.sourcecoast.com/thanks). This setting is not used for app requests sent from the admin area.

Redirect From Canvas: When disabled, the destination URL will be shown with the Facebook canvas area frameset.
When enabled, the destination URL will be shown within the Facebook canvas area frameset and navigation will take place on Facebook.

Published (right-hand side): Unpublished requests will be hidden selection options for being sent. Outstanding requests that have already been sent, but not accepted, will still be processed like normal.

Sending Requests

Once your request has been created, there are 2 ways to send these to users: Application Requests, sent from the admin area to selected users, and Friend Requests, which are sent from the front-end by your visitors to their friends.

Application Requests

These requests are sent from the admin area of Joomla and can be sent to any (or all) users that have approved your Facebook application and linked their FB account to a Joomla account on your site. These requests are the same type of requests that Games or other Facebook applications send to notify you of updates (new farm supplies in Farmville), status ("It's your move"), or other events to be aware of. Sending these to your users are a great way to let them know about new things happening on your site, like a new blog post, promotion, or other event that you want to tell them about.

After the Request is created, as described above, you can simply hit the "Send To All Users" button in the Toolbar. In the next view, you'll be able to review the data that will be sent. Once you're ready to send, hit the "Send Requests" button at the bottom. A progress indicator will appear and update with the number of requests that have been successfully sent. Do not naviagate away from this page while the requests are being sent! Once all the requests have been sent, you will see a "Messages Sent!" notice.

Friend/User Requests

These requests are displayed on your site and intiated by your guests. These are a great way to get your user's to promote your site or content for you. To include a request that you've created, you can either use the JFBCRequest module which or the JFBConnect Easy-Tags, as specified below:

{JFBCRequest request_id=1 link_text=Invite Friends} - This will insert a text link
{JFBCRequest request_id=1 link_image=http://site.com/image.png} - An image link for the request

When clicked, a nice popup will show with the user's Facebook friends displayed. The user can select as many friends as they want to send the Request too.

Request Tracking

All requests, regardless of whether they were sent as Application or Friend requests, are tracked in JFBConnect. By clicking into the Request in the admin area, you can see the stats for how many times the request has been sent, been acted upon by the receiver, and how many requests have expired. A request expires if it is not acted upon by the user within 14 days of sending it.